West Covina to settle public records lawsuit

WEST COVINA >> The city’s council has moved to settle a lawsuit with activist and recent candidate Lloyd Johnson over a denied public records request.

Officials denied Johnson documents in May that showed how much the city spent on litigation related to a failed attempt to build a medical building at the civic center. A judge shut down the project in response to a lawsuit from the West Covina Improvement Association, but the city appealed the decision in an attempt to undo the precedent it set for future developments, city officials said.

The previous council passed an ordinance requiring a vote of the public to sell the property and paid out $900,000 in a settlement with CGM Development, which alleged officials misled the company about the worthiness of the project.

City Attorney Arnold Alvarez-Glasman denied Johnson’s request, stating that the “release of legal fees would communicate the level of effort and possible strategies of the city of West Covina.”

Alvarez-Glasman contacted Johnson’s attorney, Cory Briggs, after the council reviewed the case in a closed session meeting earlier this week, Johnson said.

“(Briggs) told me the city attorney called him and said they want to settle it,” Johnson said. “They’ll give me the information I asked for and they’ll pay his attorney fee.”

Johnson said more than $1 million has been spent fighting legal battles related to the civic center and that the public deserves to know how their money is spent. Poor advice from the city attorney led to unnecessary lawsuits, Johnson said.

“Mine didn’t have to come to a lawsuit,” he said. Johnson will not receive any compensation in the settlement, he said.

Alvarez-Glasman said Friday his office is still working on the “final written terms” of the agreement.

“This matter has been settled in concept,” he stated in an email.

Four of the council’s members — three of which won seats in the November election — have said they did not believe the request should have been denied.

Councilmember Mike Spence said the council did not vote on a finalized agreement yet, but that the members have similar views on the denial.

“I think there was always a consensus among the council that the information should have been given to the public,” he said.